Car Hire in Plymouth - Getting to Plymouth

As one of the major towns in England’s southwest, Plymouth is well connected by all forms of transport. You can fly there, take the train or bus, hire a car and drive there or even approach by ferry from France or Spain.

There are direct flights to Plymouth Airport from Cork, Jersey, Guernsey and London Gatwick. Connections via Bristol can be made to or from Aberdeen, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dublin and Paris.

If you are going by car, there are two popular ways to get to Plymouth from London. The faster way is to head for Bristol on the M4, then follow the M5 to Exeter, and finally take the A38 to Plymouth. An alternative is to take the M3 to Southampton, and then follow the pretty southern coastline. Drive time from London is around 3 hours, 30 minutes.

Plymouth's train station, from where there are extensive services to destinations throughout Britain, is located off Saltash Road. Trains from London (Paddington) to Plymouth take around 3 hours, 30 minutes. Direct services also run from South Wales, the Midlands, the north of England and Scotland.

The cheapest way to travel is by coach, and the Rapide luxury coach service from London’s Victoria Coach Station (via Heathrow Airport) takes 4 hours, 30 minutes to Plymouth. There are numerous other routes connecting the city with major cities and towns across Britain. The bus station is at Bretonside, just over St Andrew's Cross from Royal Parade.

During the summer in particular, there are frequent ferry services to Plymouth from Roscoff (France) and Santander (Spain) operated by Brittany Ferries.